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Marth
Marth (マルス, Marusu) is the prince of Altea, son of King Cornelius and his wife Liza, descendent of the hero Anri, and inheritor of both the divine blade Falchion and the task of using it to strike down Medeus, the Earth/Shadow Dragon. Driven from his kingdom by the Dolhr Empire at the onset of the War of Shadows, he took refuge in Talys for two years before departing to amass an army to resist and strike down the empire's grip on Archanea. Years later, he led Altea in the War of Heroes against his corrupted former friend and ally, Emperor Hardin of Archanea. He developed a reputation as a legendary hero, fondly dubbed the "Star Lord" by the people of Altea. In time, the continent of Archanea came to be united under his rule, and he became renowned throughout history as the legendary "Hero-King" of the Unified Kingdom of Archanea. He is the lead protagonist of four Fire Emblem titles - Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Tsurugi, Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem, Heroes of Light and Shadow, and an extra playable character in Fire Emblem: Awakening. He is also arguably more well-known as one of three representatives of the Fire Emblem series in the Nintendo crossover fighting series, Super Smash Bros. Description Marth is about 14 years old in the prologue added to Shadow Dragon, 16 years old in Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi and its remakes, and about 17 in Monshō no Nazo and its remake. He often wears a headdress with a jewel in the center of it. While this headdress appears to be his in the games, the anime implies it is a memento given to him by his sister Elice and in the manga it is a gift from Shiida. In Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi, Monshō no Nazo and their remakes, he has light blue hair, while he has midnight blue hair in the anime and the Super Smash Bros. games. When he first appeared in Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi, Marth wore a light blue tunic, a dark blue cape with matching pauldrons that have a yellow outline, heavily-strapped brown sandals and armbands, a gold belt that held a red oval jewel on the front with a black rope above it, and no pants. He wore the same thing in the retelling of Monshō no Nazo Book 1, except his footwear was replaced with blue boots, his cape got lengthened with a red lining, and he has now has short white sleeves and long white fingerless gloves. In Book 2 of Monshō no Nazo, he wore a similar outfit consisting of more elaborate royal clothing and a red circular jewel holding his cape over his chest. This time, he once again wore no pants except on the artwork shown in the box and manual, where his gloves were also depicted the same navy blue color. His appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl is based on this appearance, with the addition of a heavy breastplate and some other changed details. In the anime, he also casually wore light brown clothing with blue pants. In Shadow Dragon, Marth is given a new design that somewhat resembles his appearance in Monshō no Nazo, with a bronze pendant rather than a ruby one. He also has boots close to his original sandals, a leather strap with a buckle around his waist rather than a belt, a longer tunic based on the one from the Super Smash Bros. games, and baggier pants. His design in Shin Monshō no Nazo adds slightly more regal clothing and replaces the pendant again to resemble Monshō no Nazo. In the Fire Emblem: Awakening DLC, his appearance is much closer to his pre-remake look, with a leaner physique and more sophisticated noble clothes, although it is technically not the real Marth (it is one of many Einherjar cards, which are mirror-image copies of historical personalities). In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Marth will have a character model which is a cross between Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Shin Monshō no Nazo, with his heavier armor more grey than blue. History Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi Hundreds of years had passed since Medeus was slain in Akaneia. Once Medeus is resurrected, he rebuilds his land of Doluna, ready to invade Akaneia once again. After an attack from Doluna, Marth is forced into exile in the island nation of Talys and home of his childhood friend, the princess Shiida. His father, Cornelius, is killed due to a betrayal by his ally Jiol, the King of Gra and Gharnef, an evil Pontifex and a devout follower of Medeus; the sword Falchion is taken by Gharnef, and Marth's elder sister Elice is taken hostage. With the help of the Altean knight Jagen, Shiida, Aurelian commander Hardin, Red Dragon Princess Minerva, and others, Marth embarks on a quest to defeat Medeus, reclaim the kingdom of Altea, and rescue his sister. Marth meets Nyna, the princess of Akaneia — the most prominent kingdom — who gives him her country's national treasure, the Fire Emblem. After Gharnef is defeated by one of Marth's allies, Marth obtains Falchion which he uses to defeat Medeus. Afterwards, he proposes to Shiida. Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem After the defeat of Medeus, Marth spent his days peacefully in Altea. During this time, Shiida becomes his fiancee, and the two are soon to be married. However, Marth is ordered by Hardin to put down a rebellion in Grust, and due to Akaneia maintaining some level control over other countries, Marth is forced to go. Upon arrival, Marth learns of General Lang's abuses when talking to Lorenz, and who dies shortly afterward, after entrusting Yubello and Yumina, a prince and princess of Grust respectively, to Marth. However, Lang takes them, and Marth then is forced to go to Medon, where he meets Linde, a mage of Akaneia, who had been keeping the Fire Emblem safe from harm. Marth eventually opposes Lang, attempting to get Hardin's support in removing the corrupt general, but is surprised that Hardin decides to support Lang and declares Marth a traitor, soon after he learns from Shiida that the United armies of Akaneia, Aurelis, and Gra having conquered Altea and captured Elice in Marth's absence. After freeing Grust, Marth discovers that several gems are needed for the Fire Emblem to regain its true power. Marth retrieves most of the gems. He eventually joins forces with Sheema, a distant relative of his and the Princess of Gra, a kingdom that had fallen to ruin after betraying Altea. After reaching Akaneia Palace, Marth defeats Hardin, obtaining the last gem. The gems are placed on the Fire Emblem, which becomes the Shield of Seals. Afterward, Marth discovers that Hardin was not really evil, but was possessed by the evil priest Gharnef himself through the Darksphere. He then heads to Doluna where Gharnef lurks. After Gharnef is defeated, all that remains is the new reborn Medeus, guarded by Earth Dragons and possessed clerics. The Shield of Seals emits a power that forces the Earth Dragons to retreat, giving Marth's army the opportunity to save the clerics and for Marth to defeat Medeus once and for all with a slash of Falchion. Afterword, Marth chose Shiida as his wife and marries her, is declared Emperor of the entire continent of Akaneia, and spends his time rebuilding Akaneia with her in Pales, the capital of Akaneia. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon In the early days of the War of Shadows, some time after King Cornelius had departed with the Falchion to challenge the forces of Dolhr, Marth remained behind in Altea with his mother and Elice, committing himself to his studies; with much of the Altean army out to war under Cornelius, the defence of Altea was maintained by a Gra garrison. After Gra turned on Altea in the midst of battle, the garrison at Altea did the same, seizing the castle for Dolhr. While Elice stayed behind to buy Marth time, unknown to Marth himself, he fled the castle guided by Malledus, and gathered a small number of Altean knights: Abel, Jagen and Frey. On their way out, Cain returned from the battlefields of Gra to report the death of Cornelius and join Marth's group, and Marth rescued an Altean knight captured and gagged by the Gra forces, Gordin. Gra's King Jiol arrived with a wave of reinforcements, closing in on Marth's group; to ensure the escape of Marth and the others, Frey offered himself as a decoy, dressing as the prince and fleeing to the south, luring Jiol and the reinforcements away. Draug then arrived, having prepared a ship to facilitate the group's escape from Altea, and from there Marth reluctantly fled for Talys, spending the next two years taking refuge in the island nation's eastern fortress under the hospitality of its King Mostyn. From there, as in Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Tsurugi, when the pirates of Galder descended upon Talys to raid it, called into action by the arrival of Caeda, Marth's forces departed the fort to combat the invasion; upon its fall, on the advice of Mostyn, Marth's retinue left Talys to commence its goal to rebel against the domination of Dolhr. The group's first destination was Aurelis, where during their liberation of the country from Macedon occupation, Marth swiftly befriended Hardin, the country's prince, and was entrusted with the Fire Emblem by Princess Nyna of Archanea, symbolising his fate as the world's chosen champion against Dolhr. From there, Marth led the army to reclaim Archanea, then proceeded on to Gra in an effort to find the Falchion said by Cain to have been taken by the country from his father's corpse. Gra fell, yet the Falchion was nowhere to be found, leading Marth to reluctantly decide to detour to Khadein, on Malledus's theory that it had come into Gharnef's possession, instead of pressing on to liberate Altea. The trip to Khadein proved fruitless, with the Falchion and Gharnef still nowhere in sight, and Marth turned his sights on liberating Altea. Upon Altea's fall, Marth learned of his mother's death at the hands of Morzas and that Elice had passed into Gharnef's hands. Despite his grief at this news, and despite Nyna and Malledus suggesting he take a break, he nonetheless greeted the people of Altea, joyful at their freedom. From there, Marth led his army in the conquest of Grust and Macedon, before being sent by Gotoh to Thabes in order to confront Gharnef. With Gharnef's death at the hands of a member of Marth's army wielding Starlight, Marth recovered the Falchion and, at the top of the tower, reunited with Elice, who had been imprisoned by Gharnef for the purpose of using the Aum staff. In the closing days of the war, Marth turned his focus toward Dolhr Keep, where Medeus himself lay in wait. Engaging him in battle, wielding the Falchion, Marth struck down Medeus as Anri had a century before. At the end of the war, on the urging of Nyna, Marth finally confessed to Caeda his longtime affections for her, and the two became engaged. Personality Marth's personality has changed over time. In the original game and Monshō no Nazo, Marth was somewhat naive to the point he seemed innocent, he childishly adored Shiida and asked Jagen childish questions. In Shadow Dragon the creators made his personality more noble, resembling that of later lords in the series. Shin Monshō no Nazo combined the two, asking Jagen questions of a more serious nature and keeping cool around Shiida, yet privately having the mind and ideals of a child and being nearly unable to stand the sight of death. Gallery Category:Nintendo Characters Category:Fire Emblem Characters Category:Nintendo Entertainment System Debut Category:All Characters